A new adaptation of William Golding’s 1954 novel Lord of the Flies, scripted by Jack Thorne, premiered at the Berlin Film Festival this week, offering a strikingly fresh seize on the enduring story of boys stranded on a desert island and descending into violence. The four-part series, produced by BBC One, arrives following Thorne’s Emmy-winning success with the Netflix drama Adolescence, a series that explored the dark side of teenage life and sparked global debate.
Even as Adolescence centered on a 13-year-ancient killer, Thorne’s Lord of the Flies distinguishes itself from its predecessor by functioning as both a tense thriller and a philosophical inquiry into collective human behavior. According to reports, the adaptation retains the novel’s period setting, featuring the boys speaking in an archaic, upper-crust British vernacular. However, it diverges from a straightforward retelling, aiming for a more nuanced exploration of the themes present in Golding’s work.
Thorne’s key structural innovation is presenting each episode from a different character’s perspective, fostering a deeper intimacy in characterization. This approach is complemented by Marc Munden’s direction, which employs disorienting camerawork, including fish-eye lenses, and cutaways to nature – swarming ants, scuttling beetles – to immerse the viewer in the island environment. The series’ visual style is further enhanced by an over-saturated color palette of blazing reds, oranges, and garish greens, creating a hallucinogenic, nightmarish quality, underscored by a rumbling, discordant score composed by Cristobal Tapia de Veer, known for his work on The White Lotus.
The adaptation’s focus on the boys’ descent into savagery echoes Golding’s original intent to examine the inherent darkness within human nature. Golding, a schoolteacher writing after World War II, reportedly used the novel to grapple with his observations about human behavior during a period of immense conflict, famously stating, “Man produces evil as a bee produces honey.”
Thorne’s work on Lord of the Flies occurred concurrently with his adaptation of his own series, Adolescence, with the scriptwriter noting that events in Golding’s classic have “a lot of parallels with where we find ourselves now,” particularly regarding the rise of populism. He suggested that elements of both projects influenced each other, with Lord of the Flies “look[ing] populism in the eye.”
The series features key characters from the novel, including Jack, portrayed as an imperious young leader who quickly establishes a power base, and Piggy, who advocates for reason, order, and survival. The dynamic between these characters, and their respective approaches to navigating the challenges of their situation, forms a central conflict within the narrative.
The adaptation has been described as a faithful take on Golding’s enduring novel, but one that feels strikingly fresh, and distinct. The series’ exploration of themes related to power, savagery, and the fragility of civilization continues to resonate in a contemporary context, prompting reflection on the darker aspects of human behavior.
